Screening for Plagiarism

Screening for Plagiarism Policy

The Journal of Religion, Local Politics, and Law is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and originality. To ensure the authenticity of all published work, the journal employs a rigorous and systematic plagiarism screening process for every submitted manuscript.

1. Screening Process and Tools

  • All manuscripts undergo an initial plagiarism check using specialized software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate) immediately upon submission.

  • The screening compares the manuscript against a comprehensive database of published works, including journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and internet sources.

  • The handling editor reviews the generated similarity report in detail, analyzing the context and extent of any matched text.

2. Acceptable Similarity Threshold and Analysis

  • While no fixed percentage universally defines plagiarism, the journal typically flags manuscripts with a similarity index above 20% for careful examination.

  • The editor critically assesses the report, distinguishing between:

    • Properly cited quotations.

    • Commonly used technical terms and phrases.

    • Matched text from the author's own prior publications (self-plagiarism).

    • Unoriginal text without appropriate attribution, which constitutes unacceptable plagiarism.

3. Types of Plagiarism Checked

The policy specifically addresses:

  • Verbatim Plagiarism: Direct copying of text without quotation marks or citation.

  • Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rephrasing another's ideas without proper acknowledgment.

  • Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): Reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without disclosure or citation. This includes redundant publication.

  • Ideas/Data Plagiarism: Appropriation of concepts, research data, or hypotheses without credit.

4. Actions and Consequences

Based on the screening outcome, the editorial team will take one of the following actions:

  • Proceed to Review: If similarity is minimal, negligible, or properly attributed.

  • Request Revision: If isolated sections require proper citation or paraphrasing. The manuscript may be returned to the author for correction before peer review.

  • Reject Immediately: In cases of significant, unattributed duplication (serious plagiarism). The author(s) and their institution may be notified.

  • Retract Published Article: If plagiarism is discovered post-publication, following COPE guidelines.

5. Author Responsibility

  • By submitting, authors confirm the work is original, has not been published previously, and that all sourced material is appropriately cited.

  • Authors are expected to be familiar with and adhere to accepted standards of scholarly attribution.

This proactive policy safeguards the journal's credibility and ensures trust within the scholarly community.